The current status of knowledge concerning the Eemian interglacial in Sweden is surveyed, and comparisons are made with northern and western Finland. The course of shore displacement is fragmentarily known for Sweden, since brackish-marine sediments have been identified, on the basis of diatom analysis, at only few sites. In Finland, on the other hand, a shoredisplacement curve has been constructed for the Eemian Baltic Sea in Ostrobothnia, central western Finland.

The vegetation history is summarised for the southernmost part of Sweden, and can be correlated with that documented in Denmark. For the central part of Sweden, information is sparse, but the composition of the forests has been outlined for most of the interglacial, although information on regional pollen assemblage zones E3 and E4 (early-temperate substage) are mainly missing. A more complete picture of the interglacial vegetational history is known from Ostrobothnia in Finland. The thermophilous indicators Viscum, Ilex, Hedera and Osmunda grew far North during the Eemian. Corylus and Carpinus expanded much further to the North than during the Holocene. In Swedish and Finnish Lapland, the vegetation history is similar except that Larix was common in Finland during the Eemian, but its presence has so far not been confirmed in Sweden.

Eemian deposits relocated during the Weichselian glaciation contain pollen and diatoms that can be used for reconstruction of the Eemian environment. No clear indication of a rapid climatic deterioration during the Eemian has been found so far in either Swedish or Finnish sequences.

This paper draws attention to the fact that east-central Sweden consisted of an extensive archipelago throughout the Stone Age. An image of the Mesolithic cultural landscape is beginning to take shape, since a large number of sites have been found and excavated in recent years. The remains of the sub-regions on the mainland and at the inner margin of the archipelago are interpreted as reflecting changes in material culture without any corresponding change further out. In considering why people of some sub-regions were more susceptible to new ideas than those of others, the specific physical setting and the strong social order prevailing in fishing and seal-hunting communities are regarded as factors which prevent rapid changes.